To Be Loved
by Rhianna-Aurora
Summary: A response to an Aurikku ficlet challenge on LJ. The rules were, it had to involve Gippal somehow. Well, here ya go. Rated JUST to be safe. One-shot.


She had once been so bubbly and cheerful, the apple of her father's eye, but things had changed when her mother died five years ago. Cid had become withdrawn, not caring any more, about _anything_ … and he took it all out on Rikku, not strong enough to give him any challenge.

Two years ago, she had married her closest childhood friend, hoping that he would provide her with the stability and love that her life with her abusive father had denied her. She had been seventeen when they married, just barely the legal age of consent.

Luckily, the nasty cycle of abuse that seemed so common did not continue with Gippal, but things were far from perfect. He loved women, and they loved him. Quite frequently, in fact. This "hobby" of his afforded him little time at home with his wife.

To be fair to him, it wasn't as if they had ever been _in love_. Gippal felt bad for her, growing up with that abusive father and a brother who either didn't care or didn't have a clue what was going on. He wanted to help her, so he did the one thing he could do: He offered to marry her and take her out of that situation. And she had gone with him willingly and gladly, just wanting to escape.

But the dream had faded quickly, as she sat at home alone every night, wondering if she was destined to a loveless, lonely life. Sitting at home alone every night gave her time to think about all of this, and she didn't want to. She didn't want to rehash what her life had been like up till this point.

Because things were _different _now.

They had started changing for the better a few months ago, when Gippal had invited her along to a party that he was attending for the opening of a new club. He knew she had been looking forward to it, and he thought getting out of the house would be fun for her.

Rikku's cousin, Yuna, had been there with her boyfriend, Tidus. Gippal, seeing she was in good hands, had gone off with some of his friends. Yuna frowned. She didn't like the way things had turned out for Rikku at all. She deserved something – _someone_ – so much better. That was when Tidus had introduced Rikku to _him._

_He_ was an enigma, really. Auron was tall and dark and handsome, with a brutal scar across one eye. A coworker of Tidus' father, Jecht, on the local police force, until Jecht had gone missing a year ago. Rikku had been intrigued from the start, and the feeling was apparently quite mutual.

And now, three months later, and not a night had gone by that she hadn't seen him. It had been perfectly innocent up to this point. They met for coffee, had dinner, saw movies. They'd never gone home together, though they were fully aware that they _could_.

But every time he looked at her, she felt it, all the way to her toes … that _thing_ that had been missing in her life since the death of her mother … it was all right there, in _his_ beautiful coffee-colored eyes.

Security. Home. Acceptance. Peace. And all she had to do was take a deep breath and plunge headfirst into it.

Sighing, she looked at the clock. 10:15. Gippal wouldn't be home for _hours_. It was just something she had gotten used to. It didn't even bother her any more. How could it, especially now, with what she was planning to do?

She grabbed her orange jacket from the closet in the hallway and headed out. The town was not very big, and it only took her fifteen minutes to get there on foot. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand to knock on the door, but it was opened before she could do anything.

"Rikku," he said simply. "Come in." He held the door open wide for her.

She looked up at him, completely speechless, not moving. He was standing there, wearing only a pair of black pants. She could see that the scar on his face trailed all the way down the right side of his torso, and she had the strongest urge to reach out and run her fingers along it. She looked up and into his good eye, and there, she saw it. Everything she had ever hoped for, ever wanted. It was all waiting for her, here with _him_.

"I …" she stammered.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, his expression deeply concerned.

She took a deep steadying breath and looked back at him. "I … I need you … " she said softly.

"What do you need? Rikku, whatever it is …" Auron said, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking deeply into her green eyes.

She shook her head and smiled gently at him. "No, no. That's _all_. Nothing else. _I need you_."

Auron's face broke into a smile, and, placing a hand on either side of her face, he lifted her face up and kissed the girl soundly on the lips. Still kissing her, he picked her up and carried her inside his apartment.

And by the time the sun rose the next morning, Rikku _finally_ understood what the meaning behind her entire existence was.

To be loved.

To be _his_.

**A/N:** **Hope you guys like this! It's just a little one-shot, so enjoy! R&R and I'll luv ya even more than I already do :) Rhi :)**


End file.
